World's churches seek best ways to counter the 'Code'

"Like in anything negative, let us take this occasion to convert the cinema industry's money-motive production into a pastoral challenge, an evangelization and catechistical moment of grace," Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales said in a statement to priests last week.

That is a tack that Catholic priests elsewhere have taken. Just up the coast from Cannes, the French resort where "The Da Vinci Code" premiered at the film festival there Wednesday, a priest in Nice was planning to lead a public debate after a screening of the film in a local cinema.

"The film asks ridiculous questions, mixing the historical with the nonhistorical," says the Rev. Vincent-Paul Toccoli. "But the church has left itself open to this sort of thing: People are disoriented, but the church doesn't help them much. She just repeats the same old things. She needs a kick in the behind like this."

Mr. Joret, the evangelical pastor, also sees the film's release as a useful opportunity for Christians to examine the roots of their faith. Even more important, he says, "it offers a real chance for believers to have a dialog with nonbelievers, and to explain what the Scriptures say. We will have an opportunity to address people who wouldn't normally read books about Jesus or about the church."

The important thing, he says, is that "we should not panic" about the damage the film might do to Christianity's image. "If you start off with a bad attitude based on fear, being aggressive or defensive, you'll get it all wrong," he argues.

On the other side of the world in Australia, the Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth, has adopted a similar approach.

"We decided to be tongue-in-cheek rather than hysterical or anxious," says the bishop, who heads a media group that has set up challengingdavinci.com, a website answering the questions that the film raises about early Christian history.

The church is advertising the site with a 15-second video clip airing in cinemas that plays on Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper," a painting crucial to The Da Vinci Code's plot. In the animated - and updated - painting, Jesus is reading the novel at the center of the storm, and rolls his eyes incredulously.

In Britain, Protestant churches are using equally innovative tools to get their message out. One group has distributed 270,000 scratch-cards to cinemas where the film will be shown, asking moviegoers to say whether 10 claims made in the film are true or false.

Beside the statement "the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is a matter of historical record," for example, are two boxes: scratch the one marked "Fact" and you will discover an "X." Scratch "Fiction" and you uncover a check mark.

The cards are the work of the Rev. Mark Stibbe, author of a booklet called "Cracking the Da Vinci Code," who will be visiting Paris this weekend to examine the film's claims in more detail at events organized by a local Anglican church, St. Michael's.

"Being in Paris, where so much of the film is set, we felt it was quite crucial to do something" says Dan Ritchie, a pastoral assistant at the church. "We see it as a good evangelistic tool."

Taking a tack diametrically opposed to the boycott advocated by Archbishop Amato, St. Michael's is organizing a night out at the movies for its congregation on Friday, encouraging worshippers to go to see the controversial film.

"It's a good social event, an opportunity to bring family and friends along and show people what church is," says Mr. Ritchie. "All churches have to fight misconceptions that they are cults hidden behind church doors: This is a good chance to show who we are."

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